Editorial: ‘Toolkit’ row avoidable

The govt’s priorities should be on providing healthcare and vaccines rather than ordering vindictive actions

At a time when India is grappling with a dubious record in upholding media freedom, the government’s moves against Twitter, the microblogging site, in the alleged “toolkit” case have the potential to further damage the country’s standing on the global stage. The images of the Delhi police knocking on the doors of Twitter India’s office in New Delhi, ostensibly to serve a notice, are disquieting and troubling, especially for a country that seeks to position itself as a mature democracy aspiring to play a larger role on the world stage. The case involves BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra’s tweet, shared by several leaders of his party, which had screenshots of what he called a “Congress toolkit” aimed at discrediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre’s handling of the pandemic situation. The Congress wrote to Twitter saying the alleged “toolkit” was fake and forged letterheads had been used in the screenshots in circulation. The contents of the toolkit document, allegedly originating from a Congress worker’s WhatsApp account, advises Congress leaders and workers to corner the NDA government on Covid-19 management, Central Vista project, PM Cares Fund and Kumbh Mela, among other issues. Some of the suggestions were apparently aimed at widening the communal divide. The police move comes two days after the Centre objected to Twitter tagging the BJP leaders’ posts as “manipulated media”. This is wholly an unwarranted controversy, particularly after the social media giant has concluded, after an internal investigation, that the toolkit was manipulated. Several independent researchers and tech experts have also reached a similar conclusion.

By going after the social media company using crude methods of coercion, the government has exposed itself to the charge that it is bent upon stifling the dissenting voices and subjugating free speech. Such actions will strengthen the perception that India is hurtling towards authoritarianism, similar to China. It must be pointed out that India’s ranking on the global press freedom index has been declining in the last one decade and now stands at 142 in the list of 180 countries. At a time when the country is passing through an unprecedented public health crisis, the government’s priorities should be on providing healthcare, emergency medicines and vaccines rather than ordering vindictive actions to serve partisan political purposes. Over the last six months, there have been flashpoints between the Centre and the US-based social media giant over critical tweets on a range of issues – from farmer protests to the government’s handling of the pandemic. In the past, Twitter had initially refused to take down certain tweets about farmer protests, flagged by the IT Ministry for allegedly “spreading misinformation”, but made a climb down later and took down some tweets flagged by the government.

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